From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A birthday, as the term implies, is the anniversary of the particular day on which a person was born. Though by no means universal, birthdays are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with a party or, in some instances, a rite of passage. Though major religious traditions such as the Buddhist or the Christian celebrate the birth of their founders, the most obvious example of which is Christmas, principled opposition to the very idea of celebrating birthdays is to be found among certain religious groups.

In some Christian traditions;Anglican view Confirmation is the ritual by which a young person receives a Sacrament thought to bestow certain gifts of the Holy Spirit. The timing of the reception of this Sacrament serves, on a sociological level, as a sort of "rite of passage" into adulthood. Catholic views this ritual as taking place at the "age of discretion" where a person has an understanding of right and wrong [1]. It is not seen so much as a "rite of passage" as a fulfillment of baptism, the first sacrament, and a personal declaration and election to accept the Faith.[2]

In India, the 12th or 13th birthday is replaced with a grand "thread ceremony." The child takes a blessed thread and wears it, symbolizing his coming of age. This ceremony is more common amongst boys in the Hindu brambhins culture.[citation needed]

In the Philippines , girls on their 18th birthday or guys on their 21st birthday celebrate a debut.[citation needed]

The birthdays of historically significant people, like national heroes or founders, are often commemorated by an official holiday. Some saints are remembered by a liturgical feast (sometimes on a presumed birthday). By analogy, the Latin term Dies natalis is applied to the anniversary of an institution (such as a university).

A person's Golden or Grand Birthday, more commonly referred to as their "Lucky Birthday", "Champagne Birthday" or "Star Birthday", occurs when they turn the age of their birth day (e.g., when someone born on the 25th of the month turns 25).[citation needed]

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Name days

In some Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox countries such as France, Poland, Russia, Bulgaria, Hungary, or Greece and Latvia it is common to have a 'name day'/'Saint's day'. This is celebrated in much the same way as a birthday, but is held on the official day of a saint with the same Christian name as the birthday person; the difference being that one may look up a person's name day in a calendar, or easily remember common name days (for example, John or Mary); however in pious traditions, the two were often made to concur by giving a newborn the name of a saint celebrated on its birthday, or even the name of a feast, for example, Noel or Pascal (French for Christmas and "of Easter"); for one, Togliatti got Palmiro as first name because he was born on Palm Sunday.

Koningsdag or Koninginnedag in the Kingdom of the Netherlands is fixed on 30 April (Queen's Day; celebration of the reigning Queen's accession). Queen Beatrix fixed it at the birthday of her mother, the previous Queen, to avoid the winter weather associated with her own birthday in January.

The Faery Queen's birthday in Ireland is celebrated on November 12

While it is uncommon to have an official holiday for a republicanhead of state's birthday, this can become a permanent posthumous honour, for example George Washington's is celebrated as Presidents' Day.

Frequency

According to a public record births database, birthdays in the United States are evenly distributed throughout the year, except for the months of September and October, which follow the holiday season by nine months.[3]

Celebrations

The birthday cake is traditionally highly decorated, and typically covered with lit candles when presented, the number of candles signifying the age of the celebrant. The person whose birthday it is may make a silent wish and then blow out the candles. After that, the person can open their presents. It is also common for the person celebrating their birthday to cut the initial piece of the cake as a newlywed couple might with a wedding cake.

Each item was associated with a prediction. For example, a person finding a gold coin in a birthday cake would supposedly become wealthy; a person discovering a thimble would never marry.

Sometimes special candles are substituted for the many individual candles in the shape of a numeral. For example, on the first birthday, there may be one candle on the cake in the shape of the numeral one, and on the tenth birthday there may be two candles on the cake, one in the shape of the numeral one followed by the other in the shape of the number zero.

In addition to parties, it is common for people to receive gifts on their birthdays or surprise parties. The popular gifts include toys, books, jewellery, clothes, flowers, technical devices, etc. However, sometimes it is expected of the person celebrating their birthday to treat their party guests instead; this varies depending on the local culture and may involve party gifts or other gestures, for example inviting to the restaurant or bar (some of them offer special birthday programs), arranging party at home, or at work.[4] The origin of the birthday gift giving originates from the gift giving celebration of Christmas.[citation needed]

In most English-speaking countries it is traditional to sing the song Happy Birthday to You to the honored person celebrating a birthday. Happy Birthday songs are common worldwide. Similar songs exist in other languages such as "Zhu ni sheng ri kuai le" in Mandarin Chinese, "Lang zal hij/zij leven" in Dutch, "Õnne soovime Sul" in Estonian, "Zum Geburtstag Viel Glück" in German, "Nα ζήσεις και χρόνια πολλά " in Greek, "Hayom Yom HUledet" in Hebrew, "Que los cumplas feliz" or "Feliz cumpleaños a ti" in Spanish, "Parabéns a você" in Portuguese, "Maligayang Bati" in Filipino, "Sto lat" in Polish, "Lá Breithe Shona Duit" in Irish, "multi ani traiasca" in Romanian, "Ja må du leva" or "Med en enkel tulipan" in Swedish, "Joyeux Anniversaire" or "Bonne Fête" in French, "Tanti Auguri a te" in Italian and "Iyi ki dogdun, Mutlu Yillar Sana" in Turkish.[citation needed]This song is a common greeting used on birthdays, along with greeting cards and verbal greetings with messages such as "I wish you a Happy Birthday" or "Happy Birthday."

Timezones and birthdays

A person's birthday is usually recorded according to the time zone of the place of birth. Thus people born in Samoa at 11:30 pm will record their birthdate as one day before Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and those born in the Line Islands will record their birthdate one day after UTC. They will apparently be born two days apart, while some of the apparently older ones may be younger in hours. Those who live in different time zones from their birth often exclusively celebrate their birthdays at the local time zone. In addition, the intervention of Daylight Saving Time can result in a case where a baby born second being recorded as having been born up to an hour before their predecessor[5].

Religious opposition

Judaism

In Judaism, the perspective on birthday celebrations is disputed by various rabbis.[6] In the Hebrew Bible, the one single mention of a celebration being held in commemoration of someone's day of birth is for the Egyptian Pharaoh,[7] while Leviticus 18:1-3 states "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived".

The bar mitzvah of 13-year-old Jewish boys, or bat mitzvah for 12-year-old Jewish girls, is perhaps the only Jewish celebration undertaken in what is often perceived to be in coalition with a birthday. However, the essence of a bar/bat mitzvah celebration is entirely religious in origin (i.e. the attainment of religious maturity according to Jewish law) and not secular, despite modern celebrations where the secular "birthday" element often overshadows the essence of it as a religious rite. With or without the "birthday" celebration, the child nevertheless becomes a bar or bat mitzvah, and the celebration can be on that day or any date after it.

Christianity

Since the foundation of Christianity historically lies in Judaism, if there is a stance against the celebration of birthdays, it often mirrors the Jewish religious arguments. Few branches of Christianity, however, actually hold any official stance in regards to birthdays, be it in favour or against. Orthodox Christianity prefers the celebration of name days only, though it is not because of any active theologically-based prohibition or discouragement. Some Christian communities, especially in the Hispanosphere, celebrate both naming days and birthdays. Jehovah's Witnesses and some Sacred Name groups, among others, do not celebrate birthdays at all. They point to, for example, the birthday celebrations in the Bible for Pharaoh and for Herod, the latter being the occasion for the beheading of John the Baptist. Also, the origins, magic, and superstitions surrounding the pagan celebration of birthdays are also a some other reasons for some Christian groups rejecting birthday celebrations.[8]

In the branches of Christianity where there is active discouragement or prohibition against birthdays, by default, this also affects their stance in regards to Christmas. After all, in its religiously presented form, Christmas is the commemoration of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, that is, a birthday celebration for Jesus, who was born in a stable full of animals, particularly common farm mammals such as cows. Hence, Jehovah's Witnesses do not espouse the celebration of Christmas either, although additional theological arguments are also cited. Because of the very existence of Christmas as an integral celebration espoused by most branches of modern Christianity, it could be argued that this constitutes implicit acceptance of birthdays, contrary to this, it might put into question the legitimacy of Christmas altogether.

Superstitious Origins of Birthday Celebrations

A number of possible superstitious origins for customs associated with Birthday celebrations have been suggested. One source states, that the tradition of birthday parties started in Europe a long time ago. It was feared that evil spirits were particularly attracted to people on their birthdays. To protect them from harm, friends and family would to come be with the birthday person and bring good thoughts and wishes. Giving gifts brought even more good cheer to ward off the evil spirits. This is how birthday parties began.[citation needed] In ancient times, people prayed over the flames of an open fire. They believed that the smoke carried their thoughts up to the gods. Another reference comments, "The various customs with which people today celebrate their birthdays have a long history. Their origins lie in the realm of magic and religion. The customs of offering congratulations, presenting gifts and celebrating - complete with lighted candles - in ancient times were meant to protect the birthday celebrant from the demons and to ensure his security for the coming year. . . . Down to the fourth century Christianity rejected the birthday celebration as a pagan custom."[9]

See also

Various birthdays are mentioned on the pages devoted to each day of the year, from January 1 to December 31.

"You have no birthday because you have always lived; you were
never born, and never will die. You are not the child of the people
you call mother and father, but their fellow-adventurer on a bright
journey to understand the things that are." -- Richard Bach

"Fly free and happy beyond birthdays and across forever, and
we'll meet now and then when we wish, in the midst of the one
celebration that never can end." -- Richard Bach

From Wikisource

My heart is like a singing bird
Whose nest is in a watered shoot;
My heart is like an apple-tree
Whose boughs are bent with thick-set fruit;
My heart is like a rainbow shell
That paddles in a halcyon sea;
My heart is gladder than all these
Because my love is come to me.

Raise me a dais of silk and down;
Hang it with vair and purple dyes;
Carve it in doves, and pomegranates,
And peacocks with a hundred eyes;
Work it in gold and silver grapes,
In leaves, and silver fleurs-de-lys;
Because the birthday of my life
Is come, my love is come to me.

From BibleWiki

There are no positive data in the Bible or in rabbinical
literature concerning birthday festivals among the ancient Jews.
This silence on the subject is, however, no warrant for the
conclusion that the Jews altogether abstained from following a
custom which was general among the Egyptians (Gen40:20), Persians (Herodotus i. 133), Syrians,
and Greeks. Even if not common among the people, yet
kings and princes probably practised it, following the
custom of their heathen
contemporaries. Birthday festivals were not considered by the
Rabbis as "ḥukkot ha-goyim" (customs of the heathen; see Maimonides, Yad
ha-Ḥazaḳh, 'Akkum we-Ḥuḳotehem, xi. 12), although Lightfoot held a
contrary opinion ("Horæ Hebr." on Mt14:6).

Contents

Biblical References.

A close study of the Biblical text shows that the Bible is not
altogether wanting in references to the subject; for, while it
lacks positive accounts, it contains passages from which it may be
inferred that the custom of remembering birthday anniversaries was
not wholly unknown among the Jews. "The day of our king" (Hos7:5), on which the princes
made the king sick with bottles of wine, and the king himself "stretched out his hand
with scorners," alludes more probably to a birthday festival than
to a solemn occasion, such as the anniversary of his installation,
which would have been observed with more decorum (see Josephus,
"Ant." xv. 9, § 6).

Birthdays might not have been celebrated by the common people
with great solemnity, yet they did not pass wholly unnoticed, and
were remembered by congratulations, as in modern times. Jeremiah not only cursed the
day of his birth, but wished that it should not be blessed (Jer20:14), as though such had
been the custom.

It is said of Job, "and he cursed
his day" (Job3:1). The emphatic and determining
expression "his day" implies the idea that he, like everybody else,
had a certain day of the year singled out for a certain purpose,
which we learn further was the anniversary of his birth.

Weaning on Second
Birthday.

The second or third birthday of a child whose coming into the
world was very much desired by his parents was usually made the
occasion of a feast, because the child was then weaned, and had
consequently passed the dangerous and uncertain stage of infancy.
Abraham made a great feast
on the day Isaac was weaned (Gen21:8). This occurred,
according to Rashi, at the expiration of twenty-four months. Bishop Ely ("Holy Bible Com."
l.c. on the passage) says: "By comparing I Sam. it would
seem that this was very probably a religious feast." Hannah
postponed the yearly family feast at Shiloh until she had weaned Samuel, in order to celebrate his birthday at
the same time (1Sam1:23, 24). According to
Rashi and Midr. R. Samuel,
l.c., this also occurred at the end of twenty-four months.
Yet from 2Chr31:16 it may be inferred
that Samuel was weaned at the
end of his third year; for only from that age were children
admitted to the service of the Temple.

In Post-Biblical Times.

Two instances of birthday celebrations are mentioned in
post-Biblical literature, from which it may be assumed that this
was customary in the Herodian family. They used to celebrate
birthdays with great pomp, and in the same manner as the Egyptian
kings had done more than 2,000 years earlier (Gen40:20), by extensive public
entertainments, which were made the occasions of granting favors to
friends and pardons to those in disgrace. Agrippa I. solemnized his
birthday anniversary by entertaining his subjects with a festival,
and decreed the recall of his banished general Silas, which recall, by the way, the latter
stubbornly declined (Josephus, "Ant." xix. 7, § 1). Herod the Tetrarch celebrated his
birthday with a great feast, at which the daughter of Herodias danced before the
guests, the king promising "to give her whatsoever she would ask"
(Mt14:6).

The Bar Miẓwah.

The Jewish people in general may have had reasons to avoid
feasting on birthdays in the times of the Tannaim and Amoraim:
first, because they had been at one time grievously offended on
such festivals (according to 2 Macc6:7, the Jews were forced,
in the time of Antiochus, to eat of the sacrifices which were offered "in the day of
the king's birth every month"); secondly, because no "Talmid ḥakam"
would attend as a guest at such a feast, since the Rabbis condemn
the Talmid ḥakam who partakes of a meal or feast which is not a
"se'udat miẓwah" (commendable meal). And to the son of him who
frequented feasts were applied opprobrious epithets, such as "son
of an oven-heater," "son of a
market-dancer," etc. Since the fifteenth century (Löw,
"Lebensalter," p. 210) the thirteenth birthday of a boy has been
made the occasion of a family feast because it coincides with his
religious majority (Bar Miẓwah).

Special Birthdays of
Scholars.

In modern times the widely spread custom of celebrating some
particular birthday of a great man by a banquet or by some literary
production has enriched Jewish literature with many gems of Hebrew
learningand poetry. Jewish scholars of great renown have become the
recipients of marks of deference and homage on the part of their
friends and admirers on their seventieth or eightieth or ninetieth
birthday by the publication of a jubilee-book, to which scholars
from far and near have contributed some of their best work. Of
these publications are: (1) "Jubelschrift zum Neunzigsten
Geburtstag des Dr. L. Zunz," Berlin, 1884, produced on the occasion
of Dr. Zunz's ninetieth birthday; (2) "Jubelschrift zum
Siebenzigsten Geburtstag des Prof. Dr. H. Graetz," Breslau, 1887,
in celebration of Graetz's seventieth anniversary; (3) "Festschrift
zum Achtzigsten Geburtstag des Dr. Moritz Steinschneider," Leipsic,
1890, on the eightieth birthday of Dr. Steinschneider; and (4)
"Shay la-Moreh" (A Present to the Teacher), Berlin, 1890, dedicated
to Dr. Israel Hildesheimer by
his friends and students on his seventieth birthday.

Some have confined themselves to the sending of a letter of
homage or a poem. Smolenskin remembered Dr. Zunz on his ninetieth
birthday with a letter of congratulation, "Miktab Shalom"
("Ha-Shaḥar," xii. 327). H. S. Slonimski was greeted on his
seventieth birthday by a letter of homage, "Iggeret Ḥen," signed by
twenty-eight of his friends, all poets and "maskilim"
("Ha-Ẓefirah," vii.). S. Scherschewski wrote a magnificent poem on
the same occasion (ib.). There is a poem by A. Gottlober
dedicated to the famous ḥazan and musical composer, Solomon Sulzer, on his
seventieth birthday ("Ḳol Shire Mahallal," vii. 29). Gottlober also
wrote six poems on several birthdays of his own (ib. pp.
31-40). There are several birthday poems in the "Shire Sefat
Ḳodesh," by A. Lebensohn ha-Kohen, most of them dedicated to his
son MichaelJoseph (ib. i. 220; ii.
162, 163-184).

The birthday anniversaries of heathen kings, (missing hebrew text) ,
are considered by the rabbis of the Talmud as legal heathen holidays, which count among those
holidays on the three days preceding which Jews are by Talmudic law
required to abstain from concluding any business with a heathen (Mishnah 'Ab. Zarah
i. 3).

About the meaning of (missing hebrew text) of the Mishnah, which seems to
correspond with ἡμέρα γενεσεώς (LXX., Gen40:20), some doubts have been
raised because, by the side of (missing hebrew text)
("birthday of the king") mention is also made of (missing
hebrew text) (missing hebrew text) ("the day of birth
and the day of death"). In the
Babylonian Talmud ('Ab. Zarah 10a) the decision is reached in favor of
(missing hebrew text) as meaning "the day of coronation."
It is accepted by Maimonides (see Commentary to the Mishnah, and Yad ha-Ḥazaḳah,
'Akkum we-Ḥukotehem, ix. 5). The glossary "Kesef Mishneh," ad
loc., thinks that Maimonides may have read (missing hebrew
text) ("assembly") for (missing hebrew text) . Rasḥi
explains (missing hebrew text) as equivalent to "the
birthday of the king"; while the Talmud Yerushalmi ('Ab. Zarah i. 39) explains (missing hebrew
text) as "birthday." This agrees with the use made of the word
in many instances (Gen. R. lxxxviii.; Ex. R. xv.; Yer. R. H. iii.
8; Yalḳ., Job. 584; Compare Rashi,
Gen40:20). Graetz (in "M. G. Y."
230) is of the opinion that (missing hebrew text) means
the day of death of the
king.

All these difficulties and differences may be obviated if
(missing hebrew text) be explained as indicating Christian
festivals of the early Church. By (missing hebrew text)
may be understood the Nativity, or Christmas, and by (missing
hebrew text) Easter, or the Resurrection. Cave (in "Primitive
Christianity," part 1, vii. 194, cited in McClintock and Strong's
"Cyclopedia," s.v. "Christmas ") traces the observance of
Christmas to the second century, about the time of the emperor
Commodus. According to David
Ganz ("Ẓemaḥ David," i., year
3881), Commodus reigned 183-185, at the time of Rabbi Meïr of the Mishnah, who counted those days as legal
holidays.